Locally Made Sausage

After 4-H yesterday we stopped by Maurice Bonneau's Sausage Kitchen, a small-family owned business that sells locally made, all-natural sausage.  I bought a package of Smoked Chorizo and a package of Italian Sausage with Sun Dried Tomatoes & Black Olives.  This morning I made some scrambled eggs with  Smoked Chorizo and cheese curds. It was so filling and delicious!

Scrambled Eggs w/ Mushrooms, Chorizo and Cheese Curds
2 1/4 cups sliced mushrooms
2 eggs
1/3 cup Chorizo diced (skins removed)
1/3 cup Cheese Curds
Kale, ripped up (optional)
Fresh Parsley for garnish

Spray a skillet with cooking spray.  In a bowl scramble the eggs.  Cook the mushrooms in the skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.  Add the scrambled eggs, the Chorizo, Kale (optional) and the fresh cheese curds.  Scramble the mixture until the eggs are cooked through.  Remove to a plate and garnish with fresh parsley.  Makes 1-2 servings.
Printable Recipe

Pineland Farms Market

Since I've started to read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, I've been thinking a lot about incorporating more local foods into my family's diet. We already eat our own farm-fresh eggs and we drink milk from the farm down the road but we could be doing a lot more. So this morning I ventured over to  Pineland Farms Market  and came away with all of the following local fare:

Grandy Oats-Maine Grown Rolled Oats

Little Lad's- Original Granola

New Gloucester Village Store Bakery-Honey Wheat Bread

Olivia's Garden, New Gloucester- Fresh Basil & Spring Mix

Pineland Farms- Chicken Salad & Harvest Salsa

Pineland Farms Creamery- Cheddar & Fresh Cheese Curds

Pineland Farms Natural Meats- Boneless Shoulder Steak & Ground Beef

The Farmer's Eight Daughters-No Bake Cookies

I love that all of the items are made locally, have minimal packaging, and didn't break my food budget.  I love that I was the only shopper in the store and could shop at my own pace.  Also, as I drove the 6-8 minutes back to my house, I realized that this market (filled with local foods) is closer to my home than the grocery store (filled with food from who knows where) which is 20 minutes away.  So I saved gas to boot!   I am feeling so much more inspired now!

Poutine

For lunch today I am enjoying Poutine, which is French Fries with Gravy & Cheese Curds. It is something that I like to eat every once and a while or when I can get my hands on some fresh cheese curds. I first tried this dish near the Maine-Canadian border when I was in my early 20s and fell in love with the combination of ingredients. What is strange to me is that I was raised in a French-Canadian family but do not recall us ever eating this dish. I do remember how much I loved it when my parent's would bring home Cheese curds after a trip to Canada though.

In my dish above I used a beef based gravy, baked fries and a fresh cheese curds. It is so good!

Chicks and Food

When we got home last night I heard some peeping coming from under our front stoop. I tiptoed over and saw two little black chicks. Mama hen saw me and was not too pleased. She jumped at me twice and I shrieked! I really understood the term, "Mother hen!" Then I did the same with my brood, I protected them from the hen and quickly got us inside. Despite almost getting pecked to death I am so excited that our hens are hatching out their own chicks!

When I looked in the fridge I discovered a bowl of strawberries. Hubby had helped a coworker move a washer and he gave him a bunch of strawberries. They were so good! Aiden ate most of them! That kid loves his fruit!





Today must have been the day for attracting locally grown food. At Maine 4-H Days we spent some time helping out in the kitchen and the lady in charge gave us several bags of spinach, pea tendrils and turnips! I made Ehric and I bacon wrapped scallops and wraps made with apple slices, cheddar cheese and some pea tendrils. It was all really good! Aiden stuck to his favorite PB &J!



Today at Maine 4-H days we got to try a sample of Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp made with local maple syrup and oats. It was really good! When I got home I decided to try to make my own rhubarb crisp using maple syrup (I usually use sugar). I threw some frozen rhubarb into a glass pyrex, then added some maple syrup and a little bit of flour (figured the frozen rhubarb would get watery) to the mix. In a seperate bowl I mixed old-fashioned rolled oats, maple syrup and butter. I used a pastry blender to combine. Then I poured the oat mix on the top. I baked at 375 F for maybe 30 minutes or so. Next time I will probably look up a recipe and use fresh rhubarb because some of my pieces were not mushed up enough and were a little tart. It was pretty good though, but different!

Honey, Raspberries & Baby Birds

Hubby recently befriended a fellow beekeeper that lives up the road. All week they have been chasing swarms together, and as a thank you he gave us 5 jars of honey and 2 packages of honeycomb from his bees. We tried the honeycomb after lunch and had fun sucking the honey out. It was so floral tasting and sweet. Can't wait to try the honey out soon!

After lunch the boys went to play outside and discovered raspberries in their play yard. They were so excited and spent most of the afternoon picking berries. Hubby weeded out some butterfly bush from the raspberry patch and discovered a bird's nest that had two baby birds inside. He showed it to the boys. They were so excited to tell me about it, and Ehric said it had two little red colored birds in the nest. I will have to go inspect it tomorrow. Not a bad Thursday!

Local Foods

Today I read this post from Liz at A Natural Nester about her entry into eating local foods. I too have been thinking a lot lately about searching out and buying more local foods. We already get our milk from a farm down the street and raise our own chickens for eggs. But we could do more. I also have been trying to eat a lot better as of late, and am really tired of all the preservatives and fake stuff in food...makes you wonder if we are all going to glow in the dark someday. I really questioned my buying habits too watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. He makes a lot of good points about American food.

I am wondering what you have found local or are doing to eat locally grown food?

Maple Sugar Time

Today we visited a local Sugar Shack to see how Maple Syrup is made. It was a beautiful March Day and we had a lot of fun. The owner did a great job explaining to the kids; and didn't mind answering my four year olds questions! What more can you ask for?

Showing us the tools used to boar holes and to tap the trees.

Talking a walk into the woods.

The lines carrying the sap

Where the lines end up.The tub where the sap is collected.

Outside the Sugar Shack

Inside the Sugar Shack--Boiling it down

The Final Product: Maple Syrup ($50/gallon)

Eating Ice Cream with Maple Syrup! Yummy!

Every Wednesday bloggers post pictures of the Outdoors. Please visit Outdoor Wednesday to see even more outdoor pictures.

Milking Time

Saturday evening Ehric got to go observe Too Tall (the cow we get our milk from) getting milked. He was really excited and we were excited for him. Brother would have gotten to watch too but fell asleep on the 1 minute drive there!

Non-Fiction Monday: Cows

Last night Ehric and hubby visited Too Tall's farm to return a milk jar. Too Tall is the cow that we get our milk from twice a week. While they were there the owner of the farm was doing chores in the barn. Ehric wanted to help milk Too Tall but it wasn't milking time. But the owner invited Ehric back next Saturday to come help milk Too Tall. Ehric is now very excited to say the least.

When he got home he asked me, 'How many udders do cows have?' I told him that in the morning we would read a book on cows to learn more about cow parts. So today we read the book, Cow by Jules Older and Illustrated by Lyn Severance.

Cow is a funny and kid friendly non-fiction book. Each page is filled with bright photos and honest to goodness talk about cows. One new fact that I learned is that cows are only females. We learned where cows originated and when. Ehric really liked saying the names of the cows four stomachs.

Now back to Ehric's original question, "How many udders do cows have?' Ehric learned that they have only one udder, but they have four teats. I figured last night that he was asking more about teats, but I wanted to have graphics to answer his question. So hopefully now when he goes back to Too Tall's he will know what the things you squeeze are called:)

At the end of 'Cow' there are directions for making chocolate milk, ice-cream sodas and other treats. So the boys and I made an icecream shake to drink along with our lunch. Yummy!

If you would like to take part in Non-Fiction Monday please visit:
http://6traits.wordpress.com/nonfiction-monday/
This week's Non-Fiction Monday round-up is at The Miss Rumphius Effect